Bangladesh State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mohammed Arafat blamed arsonists for the internet outage

The claims made in the text are as follows: Bangladesh experienced an internet outage, and the State Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Mohammed Arafat, blamed arsonists for this outage. Firstly, it is confirmed that Bangladesh experienced a significant internet outage in July 2024, which was widely reported by various sources including Reuters and AP News. The outage was linked to civil unrest and protests in the country. Secondly, regarding the statement by Mohammed Arafat, there are multiple reports confirming that he did make statements about the internet outage. For instance, Al Jazeera and AP News reported that Arafat defended the government's response to the protests and mentioned the internet outage. Lastly, the involvement of arsonists in causing the internet outage is less clear. While there are reports of arson attacks during the protests, such as the burning of the state-run Bangladesh Television headquarters (Le Monde), there is no direct evidence linking these arson attacks to the internet outage itself. The primary cause of the outage appears to be a government-imposed shutdown in response to the unrest, as noted by Developing Telecoms. In summary, while the internet outage in Bangladesh is confirmed and the State Minister did make statements regarding the situation, the claim that arsonists were responsible for the outage lacks direct evidence. The outage was primarily a result of government actions in response to civil unrest.